modern technologies to develop virtual performance assessments of various types (e.g., http://virtualassessment.org) that may solve this problem of providing reliable, valid measurements for sophisticated intellectual and psychosocial skills (Quellmalz & Pellegrino, 2009). Overall, the increasing availability of valid assessments for 21st century skills is leading to calls for all states to participate in “international benchmarking”: comparing their educational processes and outcomes to the best models around the world (National Governors Association, Council of Chief State School Officers, and Achieve, Inc., 2008). Widely used international assessments centered on curricular areas include the Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) for grades four, eight, and twelve, as well as the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement PIRLS assessment of fourth grade reading levels (Silva, 2008). “Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring US Students Receive a World-class Education” calls on states to implement five types of benchmarking (page 6): Action 1: Upgrade state standards by adopting a common core of internationally benchmarked standards in math and language arts for grades K-12 to ensure that students are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to be globally competitive. Action 2: Leverage states’ collective influence to ensure that textbooks, digital media, curricula, and assessments are aligned to internationally benchmarked standards and draw on lessons from high performing nations and states. Action 3: Revise state policies for recruiting, preparing, developing, and supporting teachers and school leaders to reflect the human capital practices of top-performing nations and states around the world. Action 4: Hold schools and systems accountable through monitoring, interventions, and support to ensure consistently high performance, drawing upon international best practices. Action 5: Measure state-level education performance globally by examining student achievement and attainment in an international context to ensure that, over time, students are receiving the education they need to compete in the 21st century economy.
Recent US federal activities to promote coordination among states in developing comparable, high quality curriculum standards are building momentum to generate and use assessments that can measure sophisticated intellectual and psychosocial skills needed for the 21st century. Conclusion Fortunately, groups developing conceptualizations of 21st century skills have built sufficiently on each other’s ideas to avoid a “Tower of Babel” situation. As this analysis shows, organizations that argue for 21st century skills have frameworks largely consistent in terms of what should be added to the curriculum. However, each group has different areas of emphasis within the overarching skillset. As an illustration, taking the P21 framework as a baseline, groups focused on technical skills--such as ISTE, ETS, and those who advocate for digital literacies--emphasize that aspect of P21 and articulate in greater detail which fluencies in information and communications technologies are most important. Each rganization also each introduces complementary ideas to the concept of 21st century skills. For example, as discussed earlier additions to the P21 framework from OECD and Metiri/NCREL incorporate autonomous actions by students that typically are not a part of conventional classroom culture. This highlights a meta-cognitive challenge
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